What is a Network Engineer at Burns & McDonnell?

As a Network Engineer at Burns & McDonnell, you are stepping into a role that goes far beyond traditional corporate IT. You will be designing, implementing, and securing the critical communication infrastructures that power massive engineering, utility, and construction projects. Because Burns & McDonnell is a leading engineering, architecture, and construction firm, your work directly supports high-voltage transmission lines, renewable energy sites, power generation facilities, and large-scale transportation networks.

Your impact in this position is twofold. First, you ensure that internal project teams—ranging from environmental scientists to electrical engineers—have reliable, high-performance connectivity to execute complex, data-heavy tasks like GIS mapping and CAD modeling. Second, you often consult on or design the operational technology (OT) networks for external clients, ensuring that critical infrastructure, such as utility substations and SCADA systems, remain secure and robust.

This role requires a unique blend of deep technical expertise and consulting acumen. You will face challenges involving scale, strict regulatory compliance (such as NERC CIP for utilities), and the convergence of IT and OT environments. Expect a dynamic environment where your network designs directly contribute to the safety, reliability, and success of national infrastructure projects.

Common Interview Questions

The questions below represent the patterns and themes frequently encountered by candidates interviewing for Network Engineer roles at Burns & McDonnell. While you should not memorize answers, use these to practice structuring your thoughts and highlighting your hands-on experience.

Network Fundamentals & Routing

This category tests your core understanding of how data moves across a network and your ability to configure the protocols that make it happen.

• How does the spanning tree protocol work, and why is it necessary in a Layer 2 environment?
• Explain the process of an ARP request and reply.
• What are the main differences between OSPF and EIGRP?
• How do you configure a default route, and when would you use a static route over a dynamic routing protocol?
• Walk me through the lifecycle of a packet traveling from a workstation on one VLAN to a server on a different VLAN.

System Design & Architecture

These questions assess your ability to design scalable, secure, and resilient networks tailored to specific business or project requirements.

• How would you design a network for a temporary construction site that requires secure access to corporate resources?
• What factors do you consider when choosing between a site-to-site VPN and a dedicated MPLS circuit?
• Explain how you would implement Quality of Service (QoS) for voice and video traffic over a congested WAN link.
• Describe your approach to designing a highly available core network architecture.
• How do you incorporate zero-trust principles into a traditional enterprise network design?

Troubleshooting & Security

Interviewers want to see your logical methodology for isolating faults and your diligence in protecting network assets.

• A user complains that the network is "slow." Walk me through your troubleshooting steps from start to finish.
• How do you verify if a firewall is dropping legitimate traffic?
• Describe a time you used packet capture tools to solve a complex network issue.
• What is your process for applying critical security patches to core network infrastructure with minimal downtime?
• How do you mitigate the risk of a broadcast storm on a large Layer 2 network?

Behavioral & Client Interaction

Because Burns & McDonnell operates as a consulting firm, your ability to manage relationships, handle stress, and take ownership is heavily scrutinized.

• Tell me about a time you had to explain a complex technical issue to a non-technical project manager.
• Describe a situation where you had to balance multiple urgent network projects with tight deadlines. How did you prioritize?
• Tell me about a time you made a mistake that caused a network outage. How did you handle it and what did you learn?
• Give an example of how you have demonstrated ownership of a system or project from inception to completion.
• How do you handle a situation where a client or internal stakeholder demands a network change that violates security policies?

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Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for an interview at Burns & McDonnell requires a strategic approach. You must demonstrate not only your technical networking capabilities but also your ability to operate as an owner-operator within a 100% employee-owned firm.

Technical Proficiency – Interviewers will assess your foundational and advanced knowledge of routing, switching, firewalls, and network architecture. You can demonstrate strength here by confidently discussing specific protocols, hardware configurations, and how you design for high availability and redundancy.

Problem-Solving & Troubleshooting – In complex engineering environments, networks will fail. You are evaluated on your logical approach to diagnosing issues, isolating faults, and restoring services under pressure. Be prepared to walk through your root-cause analysis methodology step-by-step.

Client & Stakeholder Communication – Because this firm operates on a consulting model, you must be able to translate complex networking concepts to non-technical project managers, civil engineers, and external clients. Strong candidates show they can listen to business requirements and design technical solutions that fit the project scope and budget.

Ownership & Culture Fit – Burns & McDonnell prides itself on its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) culture. Interviewers look for candidates who demonstrate high accountability, a proactive mindset, and a commitment to safety and continuous improvement.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process at Burns & McDonnell is designed to be thorough, collaborative, and highly practical. You will typically begin with an initial screening call with a recruiter, which focuses on your background, high-level technical experience, and alignment with the firm’s culture. They will also confirm logistical details, such as your openness to travel (often up to 25% for project site visits) and your preferred office location.

Following the initial screen, you will move into a technical interview with a senior engineer or team lead. This stage dives into your core networking knowledge, exploring your experience with specific vendor ecosystems (like Cisco or Palo Alto), routing protocols, and enterprise network design. The final stage is usually an onsite or comprehensive virtual panel interview. During this round, you will meet with multiple stakeholders, including IT leadership and cross-functional project managers, to discuss behavioral scenarios, complex system design, and your approach to client-facing consulting.

The company values a highly practical interviewing philosophy. Rather than abstract brainteasers, expect questions grounded in the real-world challenges faced by an engineering and construction firm. They want to see how you handle ambiguity, prioritize tasks with tight deadlines, and collaborate across diverse disciplines.

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This visual timeline outlines the typical stages of the Burns & McDonnell interview process, from the initial recruiter screen to the final panel evaluation. Use this to pace your preparation, ensuring you are ready for both the deep technical assessments in the middle stages and the broader behavioral and cultural evaluations at the end. Keep in mind that specific rounds may vary slightly depending on whether you are supporting internal IT infrastructure or client-facing operational technology projects.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed, you must excel across several key technical and behavioral domains. Interviewers will probe your depth of knowledge and your ability to apply it to large-scale, critical environments.

Network Architecture & Design

This area tests your ability to build robust, scalable, and secure networks from the ground up. You will be evaluated on your understanding of LAN/WAN topologies, SD-WAN implementations, and how to design networks that support high-availability requirements. Strong performance means you can justify your design choices based on business needs, cost, and reliability.

Be ready to go over:

• High Availability & Redundancy – Designing resilient networks using protocols like HSRP/VRRP and understanding spanning tree topologies.
• WAN Technologies – Experience with MPLS, IPsec VPNs, and SD-WAN deployments connecting remote project sites to corporate hubs.
• OT/IT Convergence – Understanding the unique requirements of Operational Technology networks, such as SCADA systems used in power generation and transmission.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Micro-segmentation, cloud networking integration (AWS/Azure), and QoS for critical control traffic.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you would design the network infrastructure for a newly constructed remote utility substation."
• "How do you ensure redundancy between a primary data center and a disaster recovery site?"
• "Explain your process for evaluating and selecting an SD-WAN vendor for a multi-site enterprise."

Routing, Switching & Infrastructure

This is the core of your day-to-day technical expertise. Interviewers want to ensure you have hands-on experience configuring, managing, and troubleshooting enterprise-grade hardware. You should be highly comfortable with the OSI model and the mechanics of data flow across complex topologies.

Be ready to go over:

• Routing Protocols – Deep knowledge of OSPF and BGP, including route redistribution, metric tuning, and peering configurations.
• Switching Fundamentals – VLANs, trunking (802.1q), STP/RSTP, and port aggregation (LACP).
• Hardware Ecosystems – Practical experience with Cisco Catalyst/Nexus switches, ISR/ASR routers, and potentially industrial switches used in harsh environments.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Multicast routing, IPv6 migration strategies, and network automation using Python or Ansible.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Explain the difference between OSPF and BGP, and describe a scenario where you would use each."
• "How do you prevent a switching loop in a complex Layer 2 environment?"
• "Walk me through the steps you take to configure a new BGP peer with an ISP."

Security & Compliance

Given the firm's heavy involvement in critical national infrastructure, security is paramount. You will be evaluated on your ability to implement defense-in-depth strategies and maintain compliance with strict industry regulations.

Be ready to go over:

• Firewall Administration – Configuring NAT, access control lists (ACLs), and deep packet inspection on platforms like Palo Alto, Cisco Firepower, or Fortinet.
• Network Access Control (NAC) – Implementing solutions like Cisco ISE for device profiling and secure access.
• Regulatory Frameworks – Familiarity with NERC CIP compliance, which is heavily utilized in the electric transmission and utility sectors.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), IDS/IPS tuning, and site-to-site VPN cryptography standards.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you securely segment a corporate IT network from an industrial control system (ICS) network?"
• "Describe your approach to writing and auditing firewall rules to ensure the principle of least privilege."
• "What steps would you take if you discovered unauthorized traffic attempting to traverse a critical network segment?"

Troubleshooting & Operations

Networks break, and your ability to fix them quickly is critical. This area evaluates your systematic approach to identifying root causes under pressure. Strong candidates do not guess; they use data, logs, and structured methodologies to resolve incidents.

Be ready to go over:

• Packet Analysis – Using tools like Wireshark or tcpdump to analyze traffic flows and identify latency or dropped packets.
• Monitoring & Alerting – Experience with SolarWinds, PRTG, or similar SNMP-based monitoring tools to proactively identify issues.
• Incident Response – Your step-by-step methodology for tackling a P1 network outage.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Automating incident response workflows and conducting post-mortem root cause analysis (RCA) documentation.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "A remote project office reports that their connection to the main data center is dropping intermittently. How do you troubleshoot this?"
• "Walk me through how you use Wireshark to diagnose a slow application performance issue."
• "Tell me about the most difficult network outage you have ever resolved. What was the root cause?"

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Key Responsibilities

As a Network Engineer at Burns & McDonnell, your day-to-day work is highly dynamic, blending corporate IT support with project-based engineering. You will be responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining LAN, WAN, and wireless infrastructures across numerous regional offices and temporary construction sites. This requires a hands-on approach to configuring routers, switches, and firewalls, ensuring they meet the firm’s stringent performance and security baselines.

Collaboration is a massive part of this role. You will frequently partner with project managers, environmental scientists, and civil engineers to understand the specific connectivity needs of their projects. For example, a team executing a high-voltage transmission line routing study may require high-bandwidth connections to transfer massive GIS and CAD files from a remote location. You will be tasked with engineering a reliable solution that fits their timeline and budget.

Additionally, you will play a critical role in network security and compliance. This involves managing firewall policies, monitoring network traffic for anomalies, and ensuring that any infrastructure built for utility clients adheres to federal and state regulatory standards. You will also create and maintain detailed network documentation, which is essential for troubleshooting and future scalability.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be competitive for the Network Engineer position, you must bring a solid mix of hands-on technical experience and professional consulting skills. Burns & McDonnell looks for candidates who can operate independently while managing multiple complex tasks with tight deadlines.

• Must-have skills – A B.S. in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field. You need a minimum of 4 years of professional networking experience, specifically with enterprise-grade routing and switching (Cisco heavily preferred). Strong proficiency in firewall administration, VPN configuration, and network troubleshooting methodologies is required. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are non-negotiable, as you will be interacting with diverse technical and non-technical teams.
• Nice-to-have skills – Active industry certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, or PCNSA are highly regarded. Experience in the consulting engineering space or specific knowledge of electric transmission, renewables, and utility networks (including SCADA and OT environments) will set you apart. Familiarity with network automation tools (Python, Ansible) and cloud networking is increasingly beneficial.
• Experience level – This is typically a mid-to-senior level role. The firm values candidates who have a proven history of executing tasks for both small and large-scale projects, demonstrating solid time management and follow-through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult is the technical interview for a Network Engineer at Burns & McDonnell? The technical interviews are moderately to highly difficult, focusing heavily on practical, real-world scenarios rather than abstract trivia. You will be expected to whiteboard or verbally design architectures and troubleshoot complex routing and switching issues on the fly.

Q: What makes a candidate stand out in the interview process? Candidates who demonstrate a strong "owner-operator" mentality stand out. Because the firm is employee-owned, interviewers look for individuals who show exceptional accountability, a proactive approach to solving problems, and an understanding of how their technical work impacts the broader business and client projects.

Q: Is there a lot of travel required for this position? Yes, depending on the specific team and project alignment, you can expect up to 25% travel. You will often need to visit regional offices, client sites, or remote construction environments to oversee deployments, conduct site surveys, or troubleshoot critical infrastructure.

Q: What is the culture like for IT and Engineering teams at the firm? The culture is highly collaborative, fast-paced, and driven by a strong commitment to safety and client success. You will work alongside highly intelligent professionals from various engineering disciplines, requiring you to be adaptable and respectful of different working styles.

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? The process usually takes between 2 to 4 weeks from the initial recruiter screen to the final offer. The timeline can occasionally stretch depending on the availability of the panel interviewers, who are often balancing active client projects.

Other General Tips

• Understand the Business Model: Burns & McDonnell is an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) and consulting firm. Familiarize yourself with how IT and networking support these massive, multi-year infrastructure projects. Speaking their language will instantly elevate your candidacy.
• Emphasize Safety and Reliability: In the utility and construction sectors, safety and reliability are the highest priorities. When discussing your network designs, frequently highlight how your architecture ensures high availability and minimizes risk to critical operations.
• Master the STAR Method: For behavioral questions, strictly use the Situation, Task, Action, Result framework. Be specific about your individual contributions (use "I" instead of "we") and quantify your results whenever possible (e.g., "reduced site deployment time by 20%").
• Showcase Cross-Functional Collaboration: Highlight any past experience where you successfully worked alongside non-IT professionals, such as civil engineers, environmental scientists, or external vendors. Proving you can bridge the gap between IT and the business is a massive plus.
• Ask Insightful Questions: At the end of your interviews, ask questions that show you are thinking like an owner. Ask about the team's biggest operational challenges, how they are integrating new technologies like SD-WAN into legacy environments, or how the ESOP culture impacts daily decision-making.

Summary & Next Steps

Securing a Network Engineer role at Burns & McDonnell is a unique opportunity to blend enterprise IT with critical national infrastructure projects. You will be joining a 100% employee-owned firm where your technical decisions directly impact the success of massive engineering endeavors, from renewable energy sites to high-voltage transmission networks. This role demands a high level of technical rigor, particularly in routing, switching, and security, combined with the communication skills of a seasoned consultant.

To succeed in your interviews, focus your preparation on practical troubleshooting, resilient network design, and demonstrating a strong owner-operator mindset. Review your core protocols, practice explaining complex architectures clearly, and be ready to share detailed stories of how you have collaborated across cross-functional teams to deliver secure, reliable connectivity. You have the skills and the drive to excel in this environment; approach the process with confidence and a readiness to showcase your value.

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The compensation data above provides insight into the expected salary range for this position, which generally falls between $90,000 and$140,000 annually, depending on your experience, location, and specific technical qualifications. Keep in mind that as an employee-owned firm, your total compensation package is significantly enhanced by eligibility in the discretionary year-end incentive bonus program and the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Use this information to confidently navigate the offer stage. For more interview insights and peer experiences, be sure to explore additional resources on Dataford.